


Need you now

by spacefireworks



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fix-It, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Meant To Be, Reverie aspects, Sanvers is endgame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-27 12:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15685833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacefireworks/pseuds/spacefireworks
Summary: Alex decides her life in this world isn't worth it anymore, so she gets into the Reverie program and escapes reality. The only problem is, she is stuck (kind of) and Maggie Sawyer is the only person who could possibly help (cause she is a smart little cookie). Along the way, the two woman just might find their way back to each other again.I really suck at summaries, sorry. Basically, Alex is in trouble and Maggie is there to help her out of it (like always; they are endgame!). If you still want to give this a chance ... thank you so much.The title for this fic is from the song "need you now" by Lady Antebellum!(Chapter 2: Maggie and Kara have a heart to heart about the strained relationship with her sister (kind of), before she has her first taste of Alex’s “world”)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You don't need to know what Reverie (the Series) is about, you don't even have to watch the show to understand this story. But you do need to know about certain plot points of season 3 of Supergirl!  
> I know.. this may not seem like your thing, but you know ... maybe give it a chance and let me know with comments and/or kudos if you liked it or not. I'd really appreciate any kind of feedback on this! :) 
> 
> (Mistakes are all mine, sorry!)

 

Detective Maggie Sawyer never thought she would be standing in a classroom ever again, but here she was and at freaking 5 pm in the afternoon. The teenagers would be in any minute now. God, why did she let her Captain talk her into that kind of stuff? Just because she wanted a change of scenery, for the time being didn’t mean she wanted to have to deal with kids. It was a great reminder for the reason why Alex and her broke up in the first place. Fucking amazing. Okay, truth to be told at least those kids were … well, teenagers, she could deal with wanna-be grown-ups, for now.

As the time went by the class started to fill with students, curiously looking at her. Their eyes widened slightly as they read her name on the board. Detective Maggie Sawyer. Some of them cautiously glanced at each other. See, this wasn’t any class of young teenagers these kids had troubled pasts, pulled some shitty stunts and were pretty much on a dark path with a one way ticket. So the Captain of the NCPD thought sending their best Detective to knock some sense into them would help all of them.

“Okay, let get started.”

 

##

 

A few minutes later the whole classroom was remodelled. Now they had a big space in the middle of the room, where the kids could walk around watching each other, while Maggie was standing on the side-line.

“Now remember what I told you a few minutes ago. Only 7% of our communication is based on what we say, 38% of it comes from the tone of our voice and the rest of it comes from body language. This is simple psychology guys-“, Maggie was interrupted as one of the students dropped “dead” on the floor and the rest of them laughed. With a slight smile on her face, Maggie continued her lecture. “Look at those smiles, they are real and they affect the people around you.”

The detective's back was to the entrance, so she didn’t realize at first that they’ve got some company.  “Are they making eye-contact? How do they walk? In which direction do they look?”

Another student dropped “dead” on the floor and another round of laughter went through the students. It took ten more seconds and one of the kids, Trevor, called out “Stop. Mark, he is the killer.”

Maggie looked at him with a proud look in her eyes, smiling her dimpled smile. “How did you figure it out?”

“Well, everyone was making really intense eye contact, but Mark looked away immediately. Like he had something to hide …” The kid shrugged his shoulders.

“Well done, Trevor. You’d make a great Detective someday.”

As she smiled and looked at each and every one of the teenagers someone in the corner of the room got her attention. The brunette had a really hard time schooling her features as she made eye contact with no other than J’onn J’onzz.

“Class is dismissed for today. Go home, guys and don’t get into any trouble, okay?” She ordered them with a fake cheer in her voice. At the moment she really couldn’t care less about them getting into troubles. All she wanted to do was talking to J’onn as soon as possible. Waiting for most of the kids to leave, the Martian walked up to Maggie with a smile on his face. Still a bit surprised about his presence she asked puzzled, “J’onn, not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?”

“I’ve been told you are going to teach this class for the next few months after I went to the precinct … you’re Captain told me where I could find you.” The tall man explained.

“Why are you here?” Maggie questioned again.

“How about I buy us a cup of coffee?” He asked instead of answering the question. Maggie narrowed her eyes suspiciously but also kind of confused.

“Sure, just let me get my stuff.”

 

##

 

“Okay, out with it.” Maggie didn’t want to play games, she just wanted to know what’s going on. Because if the Director of the DEO is here … it only can mean one thing: Alex.

“I knew I liked you for a reason, Maggie.” He chuckled lightly, he always loved her no nonsense policy and he knew Alex did too. Maggie tilted her head, urging him to continue and cut the chase.

With a heavy sigh, he put his coffee on the table and fixed Maggie with his eyes. His entire attention at this moment was on the young detective and it kind of was giving Maggie a weird feeling. Whatever was about to come out of his mouth, she knew she wouldn’t like it. She felt it in her gut.

“Have you ever heard about a program called Reverie?” He asked after a beat of silence.

“Yeah-,“ The brunette furrowed her eyebrows while trying to remember what she heard about it. “ … it’s a collaboration between the DEO and L-Corp, right? The media is praising the hell out of it.”

The Martian nodded slightly.  “Correct, but to be more specific, this project is the collaboration between Agent Danvers, Ms. Luthor, and Mr. Schott. Its… it’s a long story. Do you have time?” He asked and Maggie could see the plea in his eyes. He seemed desperate and whatever he needed he obviously needed Maggie for it.

“Sure, seeing as you already bought me some coffee I’m yours for the rest of the evening. But I have a question.”

“Hm?” With raised eyebrows, he urged her on to ask away.

“What has this Reverie to do with me?” She questioned confused, she may be a detective but even she needed more hints to solve a puzzle.

“I’ll come to that; I’ll explain everything to you. Please, just listen to me.” His deep voice held a kind of sorrow in it she only heard a hand full of times. She was getting a bad feeling about this.

“Deal, then at least explain to me what it does.” She suggested after a few minutes of silence.

“What is your favourite memory; and I mean your all-time favourite memory? What do you want your future to look like and what do you want to change in your past?” He asked seemingly out of the blue.

“Wh-what?”

“Maggie, Reverie is a place where the impossible becomes possible. You can do everything you want. Bring loved ones back from the dead, revisit a time in your life you wanted to change and many more possibilities.” J’onn looked at her for any kind of reactions, but the brunette just looked at him in astonishment.

“How is that possible?”

“Alex calls it the social-media footprint. With photos, videos and posts, you can feed them into the program and resurrect them in Reverie.” He looked proud, that much Maggie could see and she knew why he was so proud. This program was Alex’s brain baby as it seems, and an incredible at that. Even Maggie was impressed the first time she heard about it, but knowing it could do all of this stuff was just unbelievable. Then again, Alex was working with Lena and Winn on this so it had to be amazing.

“Wow, this sounds like heaven.”

“Well, it certainly has its appeal. The problem is they are still in the test phase of this program so it still has its flaws that need to be corrected as soon as possible. The subconscious mind servers ties with reality, Maggie. You get addicted to the program and don’t want to leave it. The bodies are going into a coma and eventually could die. As of now we only have three cases of it. Mr. Schott and Ms. Luthor are working furiously to find a solution.”

 _Whups_ , now that wasn’t the news she was expecting to hear. But again, what had that to do with her?

“I understand this is really unfortunate and I’m sure they are going to figure it out, but I still do not understand what I have to do with it.” The smaller woman replied confused.

J’onn looked down at the table, trying to sort his thoughts and trying to find a way to break this news to Maggie as gently as possible. He took a long and deep breath before he looked up and straight into Maggie's eyes. His look was so intense, a shiver ran down Maggie’s back and left goosebumps all over her body.

“One of those people is Alex herself, Maggie. I tried everything, but I just can’t reach her mind she is too far gone. For a lack of better word she is trapped in there and I need you to go in and pull her out. She hasn’t woken up for about two weeks now and if she’s spending more time in her Reverie she will never wake up from the coma and she’ll die.”

The brunette didn’t know what to say. She just stared at the man in front of her and didn’t get a word out. Her mind was blank, like tabula rasa blank. Did she even exist anymore? She couldn’t believe it and wanted to call him out on his horrible joke, but the look in his eyes told her everything she wanted (needed) to know and so much more. He was terrified, terrified of losing another daughter and he can’t do anything about it but watch it happen.

 “Wh- why?” She asked breathlessly after sheer endless moments of absolute silence between them.

“I think the only plausible explanation is that her virtual reality, her very own Reverie, is everything she ever wanted her life to be. She has nothing left in this world to come back to. Not really.” He admitted sadly, eyes downcast as he spoke.

Now that got Maggie’s attention times a hundred. With furrowed eyebrows she looked at him, the question was practically written all over her face. “What are you talking about? Kara is-“ J’onn waved his hand in a dismissive way. _Huh_.

“Kara is her sister, yes. But their relationship is not like it used to be. It’s a whole another story, one Kara should tell you about.”

He side-stepped a little, it was really not his place to say anything about the strained relationship between the Danvers sisters. Still pretty confused and still waiting for answers, Maggie relented and changed the topic.

“Okay, so why me?”

“You’re one of the best negotiators the NCPD has and your connection to Alex will help immensely.”

“You want me to pull her out, right?”

“Yes,” he confirmed. “You’re the only person I could think of being able to do that. You’ve always had a special bond with Alex. It doesn’t matter if you are a couple or not, to this day you are still the only woman she’s ever loved besides her sister and mother and I know for a fact that you still are on her speed dial, number one to be exact.”

And he dropped another bomb on her. Wow, this day was full of revelations and surprises. She was slightly overwhelmed by it. No, scratch that, she was a big-time overwhelmed by it. Why does this always happen to her?! She was just starting to get over Alex (no, not really) and then she just crashes back into her life again.

The Martian could literally feel and hear Maggie thinking and knew she needed some time to think about it. He felt and heard her conflicted thoughts about the program, but mostly about Alex. All she ever thought about this evening was Alex, even if it was in her subconscious mind Alex was always present and he knew that Maggie was and still is on the forefront of Alex’s mind. He could only guess why she wanted to stay in her created reality … He gathered his things and stood up from his chair. Maggie's eyes followed him, but she still didn’t fully grasp what was happening around her.

“Just think about it, but please let me know as soon as possible and come by the RevTech building.” He asked in a soft tone and put a hand on her shoulder. Trying to offer some kind of comfort to the young detective.

That gesture seemed to get her attention. “The what now?”

“It’s Alex’s new workplace or, well her second place beside the DEO.” He chuckled slightly a fond smile on his face. With one last squeeze, he left the little café and Maggie all by herself with her thoughts all over the place. _Well, shit!_

 

##

 

That night Maggie was sitting on her couch, in her barely decorated apartment and tried to drink her sorrows away. She couldn’t even make a coherent thought about her feelings. So many emotions, memories, and pictures were running through her mind and each and every one of them was about Alex. Of course she was going to help them to get Alex back, that wasn’t even the question here. She’d do anything for the woman she loved … still loves. But …

With a frustrated sigh, she let herself sink into the couch and fished her phone out of the pocket. To this day her lock screen was still a picture of Alex and her together. Arm in arm and with big smiles adorning their face in front of their pool table.  Maggie was sure she probably lost that night again and again. But damn, Alex Danvers was a pool shark and if it meant she’d get to see this big smile on her face, the brunette would have lost their games a thousand times again.

Against her better judgment, she opened the gallery and scrolled through her pictures till she stumbled upon those she couldn’t delete, no matter how many times she tried to do it. She couldn’t bring it over her heart to hit that button. Finally, after a few moments of scrolling through the camera roll, she found the one picture she had been looking for. Alex was spotting the biggest smile ever as she was carrying Maggie bridal style and celebrated their victory. Well, as much of a victory as a game of Charades could mean. It was probably one of the first game nights Maggie attended after they started their relationship. But the “Superfriends” made her feel at ease immediately and she really enjoyed herself that night. Especially since she and Alex crashed everyone at every game, they really did make a great team. The moment the picture was taken she was so carefree and happy, she never thought she could feel that way again, but here was Alex Danvers and her family, proving her wrong once again. It was Kara who took the picture and sent it to her by the end of the night. She felt giddy and lovesick like a teenager all over again. God, how much she missed these times now.

With a heavy sigh, she locked her phone and stared down at the black screen for a few seconds. Shaking her head lightly she got up and went into the bathroom. This was going to be a long night.

 

##

 

“Director J’onzz, could you get a hold of Detective Sawyer?” Lena Luthor asked the moment he stepped into the RevTech building.

“Yeah, she needs some time to think about it.” He replied as he was walking down the corridor, on his way to Alex’s room.

“Think about it?” Lena raised her perfectly shaped eyebrow in question.

“With all due respect, Director, Alex doesn’t have time to spare.”

J’onn haltered in his steps and turned to Lena, fixing her with a hard look. “I know that Ms. Luthor, but we need her, so if Detective Sawyer needs to sleep a night over it, so be it.” His tone left no room for arguments. He knew Lena meant well and was concerned herself about Alex. The two women became great and fast friends after the whole world killer and Kara leaving for Argo debacle. They made a pretty great team and genuinely liked each other and that made him happy. God knows Alex needed some friends in her life.

Seemingly getting the hint, the younger Luthor nodded and dropped the subject for now. They walked the last few meters in silence. In front of Alex's room, they were stopped by Winn, signalling them not to go in.

“Kara came by a few hours ago. She brought Eliza with her, they have been in there with Alex ever since. If you don’t have any good news to tell them, please don’t to it tonight Papa-Bear.”  Winn explained in a dejected voice. He looked at them with a sad and haunted shadow in his eyes, this was his sister too, in a way, he didn’t want to lose her either. J’onn and Lena perked up at the mention of Kara. The last time they saw each other was probably three months ago when Kara was leaving for Argo again after defeating the world killers.

“Well, I guess we’ll give them a few more minutes. There needs to be time for the family after all.”

He agreed gruffly and turned in the other direction. Leaving a sad looking Winn and Lena alone. RevTech wasn’t his place of work, but he still went down the many corridors until he was standing in front of Alex’s office door.

He needed to be alone for a moment.

 

##

 

Lena and Winn were still standing where he left them moments ago. Slightly confused and irritated. “I did not expect for this to go over so smoothly,” Winn stated after a few beats of silence.

“He misses her just as much as the rest of us, maybe he needs some time to himself. He’s been sitting on her bedside for the last week.” The raven-haired woman replied thoughtfully.

Absently they both turned around; with one more glance at the door, they walked down into their labs. Trying to find the solution they so desperately needed to find, but couldn’t really do it without their third team member. This was fucked up.

“Maggie is going to help us, I have no doubt about that.” The young man tried to assure her.

The Luthor watched him from the corner of her eye, not knowing if he tried to assure her or himself at the moment.

 

##

 

Inside the room, Kara and Eliza were sitting at Alex’s bedside. The blonde was absently stroking her sister’s right hand. With tear stained cheeks and puffy red eyes, she looked up at Eliza.

"This is my fault," she stated after a few seconds of eye contact with her adoptive mother. The older Danvers eyes widened slightly and she vehemently shook her head while kneeling in front of her youngest and cradled her head in her hands.

"Kara, no this isn't your fault. Okay? We could have all done something about it; the signs have been there ever since their break up. But Alex is so good at hiding her feelings and ... We just had to dig deeper. This is no less my fault than yours or even hers. You hear me? We are going to fix this." she tried to assure her youngest.

"But if I hadn't left for-" Kara tried to reason with the older woman. Why couldn't she see it?

"Kara! This isn't your fault okay! This program is so brilliant and I'm so incredibly proud of her, but of course, it has its flaws. Flaws that are going to be fixed, we just need to be patient."

The older woman softly stroked Kara’s cheeks, whipping away the leaking tears as the young hero cried for her sister. Eliza couldn't take it any longer and embraced her daughter into a tight hug.

They just needed to be patient. Alex would come back to them. She wouldn't just leave them, right? She couldn't lose her daughter. Not now not ever. Exhaling a shaky breath she burrowed her face in Kara’s hair and tightened her hold on the Kryptonian.

 

##

 

The next day Maggie walked into the RevTech building and was instantly greeted by J’onn and surprisingly enough Lena Luthor.

“Well I have to admit, this is some fancy looking place you have here?” She said with astonishment as she looked around the big hallways and offices they passed on their way. The Martian turned his head around to look at Maggie and smiled at her, probably his first genuine smile since he met her the other day.

“All thanks to our three geniuses.” He replied with a proud tone in his voice.

Lena led them into a room where the lightning was held in a soft blue. Why? Maggie had no idea, but she had the feeling it had something to do with the little thingy in a glass vitrine filled with water, or so it seemed. Before the Detective could form a question in her head, the young Luthor was already explaining what she had in front of her.

“This is a brain-computer interface that runs the program. So what you are seeing here is basically the Reverie. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?” The green-eyed woman asked with a twinkle in her eyes. To this day it was still astonishing what the littlest things of technology could do.

Maggie, ever the detective, moved closer to get a good picture of the mini-computer-thingy. It looked like … kind of like an eye with a string attached to it. In the middle of the eye, there was a bright red dot with many strings attached to it and with each other. But the most amazing part was, that thing was moving, pulsating if you will.

“Wow, is it moving?” The brunette asked in wonder.

“Yes, it would be too complicated to go in depth about it. But the moving helps it to merch with the body in a more symbiotic way. It’s impossible to distinguish the program from reality.”

Maggie turned around to face Lena. She could literally see how proud the younger woman was of this program, despite the flaws it had at the moment.

“Okay, but if its … kind of an implant, why can’t you just surgically remove it?” The detective questioned.

“Severing the connection while the person is this deep into the program can be fatal. This chip literally gets into your brain, Detective. There is no way of getting it removed without fatal consequences.” The younger woman explained calmly.

Maggie nodded in understanding.

“If you are willing to do this, you have to undergo the implant procedure as well.” J’onn brought up after a few moments of silence. The detectives had turned so fast she might as well have gotten a whiplash. She looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. _Oh boy_.

“Come on, you still have time to decide, but I would like to take you to Alex in the meantime. Or … Kara and Eliza for that matter.”

With a determined nod and one last glance at Lena, she followed him out of the room and down the hallways.

 

##

 

“Alex was the first who got the program implanted. Ms. Luthor and Mr. Schott did too after some time and a few other people as well. Three of them they have here in this … surgical wing of the building. Every single one of them decided life in Reverie was better than their life in this world.”

J’onn explained while they walked down the hallway, getting closer and closer to Alex’s room where the blinds were put up already, so you could see through the glass window. Inside the room Maggie could see Kara sitting on a small couch with a book in her lap, seemingly reading it to Alex and Eliza was sitting at her daughter’s bedside, stroking her thumb over the back of Alex’s hand absently.

And Alex?-Well Alex looked like she was just sleeping. If Maggie didn’t know any better she would say the redhead was going to wake up any minute now and go to kick some alien butt. The thing is, Maggie knew better and she saw how unhealthy Alex looked by now. She clearly lost some weight, her cheeks were shallow and every bone seemed to be more prominent. She was lying still, so still, one could have thought she’d be dead if it weren’t for the steady rise and fall of her chest. Swallowing loudly Maggie turned away and locked eyes with the older man. With a set jaw and determined look, she nodded strongly.

“I’ll do it.”

Seconds later J’onn engulfed her in a big and warm hug. He whispered a soft “thank you” in her ear and held on to Maggie for a few minutes. The brunette reciprocated the hug just as fiercely. No matter what happened or what was going to happen, this was her family too.

 

##

 

Minutes later Maggie found herself in a sterile room nervously sitting on the stool and waiting for Lena to come in with the implant. The implant got sucked into a needle that looked like a gun, except for the very long needle in front of the gun thing. Maggie swallowed hard, damn she really hated needles.

Lena came into the room with a confident stride in her walk and a slight grin on her face as she saw Maggie’s wide eyes. The Detective cleared her throat nervously.

“Do you have like a smaller gun or something?” She tried to joke nervously. The younger woman just smiled at her and without saying a word put the gun down at Maggie’s arm and pulled the trigger. The older woman didn’t even have time to react in any way, because the procedure was done in a few seconds without any signs or wounds on her arm.

“Wow.” She whispered perplexed as she inspected her arm for any injuries but found none.

“See Detective, that wasn’t so bad now, was it? You can go down to the lobby. Winn is going to be there soon and take you for your first test drive.”

With one last smile and quirk of her eyebrow, she left Maggie alone again.

This is going to be fun.

   


##

 

Down in the lobby, Maggie didn’t have to wait long for Winn to come around.

“Maggie!” He yelled happily as he rounded the corner and embraced her in a big bear hug and with a big smile on his face.

“Winn.” The detective chuckled at his enthusiasm but reciprocated the hug none the less.

“I would really like to know how you are and how everything is going, but I think we need to do the test drive first. The sooner you get the handle of Reverie the better.” Winn explained to her while leading her down to his new office and Maggie had to agree with him. First, they needed to save Alex, and then they could and would catch up on everything.

“Deal, Mr. Schott.” She teased him good naturally and swatted his shoulder lightly. With a theatrical “Ow” and Maggie’s laughter, they went into his office and closed the door behind them.

 

##

 

“Okay, are you ready for your very special Reverie crash course?” Winn asked her enthusiastically with a big grin on his face. Maggie tilted her head and looked at him with a lopsided grin. “You didn’t change one bit, hm?” She asked teasingly. Winn just shrugged, smiled shyly at her and grabbed a tablet-like thing.

“Make yourself comfortable.” He instructed her gently as he sat down beside the couch-like-chair. With the tablet like thing in his hand and held it in front of her.

“Apertus means “open” and Exodus means “closed”, okay? So whenever you are ready to say the word, close your eyes and find yourself in your very own Reverie. Or well it's like a training program if you will. So just say the word.”  Winn grinned at her like a schoolkid on Christmas Eve. Still a little suspicious and wary about the whole thing, Maggie took the tablet and made herself as comfortable as possible before she closed her eyes and said the word. “Apertus.”

Seconds later the Detective opened her eyes in a deep and beautiful forest, where birds, deer’s and little animals hushed around her and the sun broke through the tree crowns. The light shimmering over the grass and moss covered forest ground. As she looked around, a big smile on her face at the beauty she was surrounded with, she started to walk around a little. Testing the waters of the program and trying to coordinate like in the real world. She could literally do anything she wanted and she loved that very much. Like putting her hand through a fire and not getting burned or running full speed for minutes on end.

But then the scenario changed. Suddenly Maggie found herself stuck in a tank like the one Alex got stuck in and it filled with water. Really really fast. This was not what she imagined this to be. With full-blown panic in her voice and before the water could reach her head, she shouted “Exodus”.

With a loud gasp for air, she sat straight in her chair. While she tried to catch her breath her eyes darted around the room until she could focus on Winn again.

“Intense, right?” He asked seriously.

“No shit, Sherlock.” answered a still gasping Maggie.

Oh, what did she get herself into?  


 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie and Kara have a heart to heart about the strained relationship with her sister (kind of), before she has her first taste of Alex’s “world”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! :)
> 
> Thank you all so much for the kind and lovely comments! I really appreciate any form of feedback and it makes my day so much better, knowing there is someone out there who likes to read more about this. So thank you from the bottom of my heart! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, in any case, just let me know what you think. 
> 
> Happy reading!

 

  
“She is ready to try and go into Alex’s Reverie,” Winn told Lena, as both of them stood in front of the redhead's room and looked through the window.

“I think we need to run some more trials, we have to be sure.” replied the woman sceptical.

“No, she really is ready for it. She masters this program nearly as well as Alex and she did that in a mere few hours. She is ready.” He argued with strength in his voice. He trusted Maggie with his life and more importantly he trusted her with Alex’s life. Lena looked at him and raised her eyebrows in question. They couldn’t afford to make a mistake, so she really would like if they’d run a few more trials with the Detective. She was just about to start an argument with the older man, as they saw J’onn and Maggie entering Alex’s room.

Even though they both knew they weren’t on the same page at the moment, they at least had an understanding and left the hallway quietly and as quickly as possible. The Danvers Family needed this moment to be just for them. Apparently so thought J’onn, as he excused himself after giving both Kara and Eliza a gentle hug and with the promise to come back later.

 

##

 

Standing in the doorway like a little kid, wringing with her hands and not knowing where to look at, Maggie stood in front of the Danvers women. Kara looked at her like she just saw a ghost and Eliza had a soft smile on her face. Seeing or rather feeling the slight discomfort from Maggie and with Kara not uttering a word, Eliza stepped around the bed and carefully engulfed Maggie in a warm and loving hug. Letting out a relieved breath, the brunette slowly reciprocated the hug and she let herself sink into the warm body of a loving mother.

“Maggie.”

“Eliza.”

“I’m so glad to see you, sweetheart! How are you doing? Are you taking care of yourself?” The older woman asked with a concerned look in her eyes as she studied the woman's face before her. With a shy smile, Maggie looked down at the floor before she made eye contact with the older woman.

“I’m as fine as one can be … but I’m getting there.” She answered diplomatically. Eliza nodded and didn’t pressure her for more.

“I can’t thank you enough for this, Maggie.  J’onn told me you would try and get her back. I- … thank you so much!” The Danvers matriarch smiled a teary-eyed smile at her daughters … love.

“Oh … it’s alright. I’m sure if the tables were reversed Alex would do the same thing for me.” Maggie tried to deflect her actions, with a bashful smile. Really, Alex would do the same for her and she had no doubt about that.

“Of course she would, darling. Alex is a warrior at heart. She’d do anything for the people she loves.” The older blonde agreed easily, not even caring about her choice of words. Because they were true, no matter how many months had past, her daughter was still and probably will ever be in love with the young detective.

Maggie decided to ignore that particular comment for the moment, no matter how much it made her heart skip a beat. Just the … the possibility of Alex still feeling the same as she was exhilarating and giving her hope. Hope she didn’t want to lose. But everybody knows what they say about hope… it breeds eternal misery.

Kara still hadn’t said a word; she hadn’t even stopped staring at Maggie, almost like she grew a second head. Sensing that her girls needed a moment to talk and maybe even reconnect, the older woman excused herself and walked out of the room in her search for the Martian.

Finally, after a sheer endless amount of time, Kara shook herself out of her state of mind.

“Ma- Maggie? What are you doing here?” She asked in disbelief and surprise.

“Well, Little Danvers you see … J'onn asked for my help and ... How could I say no? This ... I mean this is about Alex, you know? But … um if you're not comfortable with me being here I can-” Maggie started nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.

“No please! Don't! I think you are exactly the person we need. Nobody but you can do it, safe Alex I mean.” Kara practically shouted. Shocked about her outburst she slapped a hand in front of her mouth and looked at the detective with her wide, puppy dog eyes. Taking the hand from her mouth she smiled sheepishly and slightly blushed at the older woman. Maggie chuckled slightly. No matter how much time had gone by, Kara was still the same and the brunette found that to be refreshing.

“What happened to her, Kara?” Straight to the issue and without any chance to think about a bloomy answer, Maggie asked her question. 

“I-..” Caught off guard and slightly startled Kara struggled to find her words. Opening and closing her mouth, thinking about what to say and even getting that little crinkle on her forehead.

“Start from the beginning, Kara. It’s okay, take your time, sweetie.” Maggie assured her in a gentle and soothing voice, one that would normally comfort Alex but it seemed to work on the other Danvers as well.

“Well, a few months ago I found out that a piece of Krypton … Argo City had survived the destruction of my planet, while we searched for a way to defeat Reign. A piece of my home was out there, all these years … waiting to be found by me. But that’s not even the best thing, my mom … Maggie, my mom is still alive and she is living in Argo.” A bright smile lit Kara’s face up as she told Maggie about Argo and her mother. Maggie couldn’t keep the smile off her face as well, as she watched the younger Danvers’ happy and big smile. She deserves it. - Maggie thought silently and nodded encouragingly for Kara to continue her tale.

“I’ve never ever thought that I would see her ever again, hug her and talk to her, or laugh with her. But I could, I still can do those things and that is probably what damaged the relationship between Alex and me. After Reign … I moved back to Argo, temporarily, of course, to be with my mother, because that’s what I wanted and what I needed at that time. I wanted to be Kara Zor-El and not Supergirl or Kara Danvers. I was so happy up there, besides the whole missing my sister part. But I just didn’t realize what I did to my friends, especially Alex, with my decision. I should have known … I really should.” Trailing off Kara shook her head in frustration, mostly at herself. In all this time Maggie didn’t say a word, but sat still and listened to every word Kara said. Even now, she didn’t say anything and just waited for the younger woman to sort her thoughts out and continue. Maggie was sure, she could (well, maybe) find a clue as to why Alex didn’t want to come back out of her Reverie.

The reporter (was she even a reporter anymore?) took a deep and shuddering breath before she tried to explain the next part.

“Your break-up destroyed her, Maggie. I’ve never seen her in more agony and pain than after you called the quits, even though the decision was mutual. At first, I just thought she just needed some time, but it … she didn’t get better. It just got worse, but she was so good at hiding it. A few days before I left Earth she still assured me that it was okay to put me first and that I deserved it. I guess I was so blinded by my happiness, I didn’t really see what this was doing to her. J’onn contacted me a few days ago and I’ve been here since yesterday. I couldn’t come sooner, no matter how much I wanted to.” Sparing a sad glance at her sister, Kara took Alex’s hand in hers and drew circles with her thumb on the back of her sister’s hand.

“She doesn’t even know it. I talk to her and even read to her, a lot. But she just won’t wake up. It’s like she has given up on … life. Please, Maggie, I’m begging you … bring my sister back. She is the only person on this planet that made me ever feel like home. I’m at home when I’m with her. I can be Kara with her, not Supergirl or Kara Zor-El, just Kara … her little sister.”

A few silent tears were running down Kara’s cheeks as she looked down at her sister with so much love in her eyes, Maggie thought she might drown them both in the love that was pouring out of them. But even Maggie’s eyes were not one hundred percent dry after Kara’s speech. She grabbed one of the chairs in the room and sat beside the young blonde. With a slight hesitation at the beginning, she grabbed Kara’s other hand and intertwined their fingers, giving the other woman some kind of comfort and warmth through the gesture.

“I totally want to hear all about Argo and your adventures with your mom, Kara.” She said after a few moments of silence and made Kara chuckle lightly.

“But, there is a more important task at our hand at the moment.”

The young hero nodded in agreement and wiped the tears away.

 

“You know I’m a detective and I detect, so … let me detect a little bit, okay?” The brunette asked in a jokey tone and winked at the younger woman. With a wide grin, Kara gave her “the go” with a nod of her head.

“Were there some signs or did she behave or act differently … could any of her actions have indicated where her … thoughts were spiralling?-And I know you haven’t been here much or at all the last few months. But before you left, I mean. I guess what I’m asking is could this have been prevented from happening?” Maggie asked tentatively as to not upset the younger Danvers further. Although she had a pretty good idea what the answer would be, after Kara’s story before.

“Yeah, in hindsight my alarm bells should have rung, but they didn't. I didn't look close enough and just brushed most of her behaviour off. Maggie, am I a bad sister? Did I fail her?”  Before Kara could run herself into the ground and give herself the fault for all of this, Maggie squeezed the hand she still held, as tight as she could until the other woman looked into her eyes.

 

“I'm probably the wrong person to answer that, but for what it's worth you are a great sister to Alex. I’ve always admired the kind of relationship you two had and no matter what or when you’ve always been there for each other. Don’t beat yourself up over this. If I know one thing about Alex Danvers, it’s her annoying talent of hiding or ignoring her feelings and exploding at the most inconvenient moment.” The older woman chuckled slightly.

“I had no idea it got … that bad.” Maggie admitted after beats of silence, finally sobering up and taking it all in.

“She was and probably still is a mess. She never regretted anything more in her life than making that decision.” Kara replied in a small and sad voice as she studied the woman next to her for any reaction.

“Why didn’t she come and talk to me?” The brunette asked finally. She at least would have thought she could have helped her somehow.

“She didn’t think she’d have the right to disrupt your life once again.” A third voice boomed through the otherwise mostly silent room. Caught off guard and taken by surprise both women turned around with wildly beating hearts. At the entrance of Alex’s room stood none other than J’onn. With a slight smirk on his face, he stepped into the room and held his hands up in defence.

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention.”

The three of them chuckled at the situation but were drawn back to the figure lying in the bed in front of them.

“Bring her back to me, please, Maggie! Promise me to bring her back!” Kara was desperate at this moment and would give everything to just hear Alex tell her off because she ate the last potsticker.

 

“I can't promise that and you of all people should know that. But I promise you to give my best to get your sister and her thick and hard-headed skull back.” She leaned over to Kara and whispered in her ear, while simultaneously hugging the taller woman with all that she had. That was probably as much of a promise as she would get out of the detective, so the younger woman took it gratefully and held on tight.

A thought crossed Maggie’s mind, one that she needed to ask before she’d go in there and try to get Alex back.

“Does she know? That she is living in her … own reality, that she still is in the program and her world is not real?” Maggie asked in a lower voice as she turned her head to face J’onn.

“Yes, I expect her to be fully aware of that, but also to the fact, that time doesn’t pass there. What has been two weeks for us could possibly be a few hours for her in the Reverie.” J’onn answered the young Detective, impressed by the thoughtfulness of the woman. But then again, this was Detective Sawyer, of course, she’d be asking those kinds of questions. With the little information, she was able to get from them, she’d take everything she could work with. 

The brunette was kind of glad to hear that, considering she didn’t have to convince Alex that this wasn’t real, but only that she needed to get out. She could do that, right?

 

##

 

“We don’t know what happens if you go into someone else's Reverie,” Lena informed the brunette as she tried to make the couch as comfortable for Maggie as possible. Winn stood in the background and nodded along.

“I’m willing to take the risk.” Maggie was determined. She would do it, now more than ever. Winn gave her a thumbs up and the brunette had to hide her little smirk. Despite the current situation, the nerdy guy still succeeded and made her laugh.

“You still love her, don’t you?” The younger woman stated the obvious while eyeing Maggie thoroughly.

“Of course I do! I don’t think I could ever not love her.” She finally admitted and boy it felt good. Why else would she do something like that, if it weren’t for the reason that she still loved her?

“She loves you too, you know.” Winn softly whispered from the corner of the room, not daring to make eye contact with either woman at the moment. “It’s true, she loves you, so much.” Lena agreed nonchalantly and surprised both Maggie and Winn with her comment.

“Then why did she-“ The detective started, sounding desperate and sad at the same time.

“Talk to her, after this is over.” The young Luthor interrupted the brunette. Making eye contact to get her point clear.

“So you think it will work?” Maggie asked instead, in desperate need of a subject change.

“Detective Sawyer, this program may be new and complex, but Alex, Mr. Schott and I created it. Of course, this is going to work.” Lena sounded slightly offended at Maggie suggestion that it may not work. How dare she?

“How can you be so sure?” The detective challenged sassy. She was getting a kick out of annoying the young Luthor.

“I just am. Now, let’s get started, shall we?” The raven-haired woman ignored the detective elegantly and grabbed for something in the back of the room.

“This is Alex’s Reverie; you’ll be able to access it as soon as you say “Apertus” just like you did with your own Reverie a few hours ago. We don’t know how this is going to play out, but ultimately you can always stop the program at any given moment. We can’t pull you out, you have to do it.”

Lena stared intensely at Maggie. She meant what she’d just said. Maggie was on her own, they couldn’t do anything at all to help her. If she was in trouble, she needed to get herself out of it. If she needed to get out, she had to do it on her own. They literally couldn’t help her, even if they wanted to.

Maggie nodded, getting the implication of what Lena didn’t say verbally but with her facial expressions. She was on her own.

Winn came forward, patted her on the shoulder and smiled encouragingly at her before he left the room, Lena following close behind. They would observe from the next room. To keep an eye out on her heart rate and any other suspicious things that could have happened.

 

##

 

“I wish you would have waited, given Alex some more time. Because I’m still convinced we should have given it a little more time before sending Detective Sawyer in, no matter what I just said to her.” Lena said in an almost dismissive tone, as she gathered her paperwork and spared a glance at the detectives still figure on the couch. J’onn and Winn did the same, but with rapid attention.

“Lena, we need to pull her out as soon as possible. She’s already in a coma, it’s not going to be long and her organs will shut down and then she’ll be dead. This is our only chance.” The IT guy replied tiredly. How many times did they need to have that conversation?

“But the risks are-“

“I know that! But we need to try. If it doesn’t work, we at least tried everything we could. Either way, she’ll be dead if we don’t do anything,“ he shouted. With eyes and mouth wide open he stared at the perplexed looking woman. She was just as startled as he was about his outburst. This was new, but certainly not a surprise. J’onn had to hide his little smirk.

“I don’t want to lose another daughter, Miss Luther. So I’ll do anything possible to bring her back.” J’onns deep voice rang through the otherwise silent room. He had let them argue for the past few hours, even days and he understood the concerns on both sides. Ultimately, no one was in the right or in the wrong. They had to try, no matter the risks. This was about family.

##  


Meanwhile, Maggie got herself comfortable, grabbed the tablet like thing (she still didn’t know what to call it) and took a deep breath. The word “Apertus” left her lips and she sunk into blackness.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think about it :)  
> Until next time!


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